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Wednesday, 9 March 2016

Origami Garden, by Ioana Stoian. Review

Origami Garden

Amazing flowers,
leaves, Bugs and Birds

Ioana Stoian

Search Press 2016

Paperback £10-99 (includes
20 sheets of origami paper)

ISBN 978 1 782 21 275 1

Star rating: *****

The trees are budding. Spring’s just around the corner. Time
to feature a delightful new garden-themed origami book. Ioana Stoian, author of
Origami Garden, caught the origami
bug at the source – on a trip to Japan. The fruits of her newfound enthusiasm are
a career as a pro papercrafter – and this superb origami book. Origami Gardencontains the author’s own designs,
traditional designs, and designs contributed by contemporary origami artists.

Origami Garden is
a joy from start to finish. The book’s production values are sky-high, and the
origami projects are super-appealing (you’ll want to make them all).
Front-of-book, the projects are imaginatively displayed in themed “sets” – Washing Day (clothes on a line, picnic
basket, bumble bees, flowers), A Sunny Afternoon( birds, butterflies,
flowers, mushrooms, cat), By the Pond (jumping
frog, crow, etc.), In the Garden (ladybirds,
leaves, pot plants, caterpillar, watering can). Next up – a photo gallery project directory with project
skill level indicated. This is followed by the individual project how-tos, with
step-by-step illustrations and accompanying text to show you all the moves.
Each project gets a close-up here – still imaginatively propped. Back-of-book,
tucked into a pretty print envelope... a stash of 20 sheets of origami paper,
mixed prints and plain. The prints are particularly appealing, in zingy
contemporary patterns in cheerful colours.

Namechecking some of the star projects: Slow snail (amazing spiral configuration), Autumn leaf (the beauty is in the detail – veins), Busy Bee.

This winning labour of love is super-giftable. It would make
an ideal birthday gift for a child, although you don’t have to be a child to
appreciate the childlike joy this book – and its projects – generates.